San Jose Zodiac Letter?

This is the only other possibility I could find as far as a victim that was shot and murdered, and the Victim's wife was initially arrested and released as they had no tie for her to the crime. Judging from these articles, Z, whether he was the killer or not, could have read about this story in the papers.

5/15/69 Oakland Tribune:


5/19/69:


5/22/69:


Other than the cases I have posted about, I cant find anymore stories about a murdered man during mid to late 1969, that looks Z related.

AK Wilks wrote:

Just guessing, because we don't have most of the facts.

The "- + 6 2 + -" was analysed by someone (not the FBI) as perhaps meaning "1620". That seems like an address to me, be it "1620" or just something like "_ _ 6 2 _ _". Seems like a 2, 4 or 6 digit address? Any other ideas?

Then they say it says "November = 8", then they refer to a "postmark", and say it could mean "November 28", of course a date, and this letter was sent on November 21, 1969, and one week later, November 28, 1969 Betsy Aardsma was killed.

But in terms of looking for a San Jose area murder, perhaps one that left a widow, I would look for a "28" date, an "8" date, a November date. And also for a case that may have an address or other number associated with it with a "62", "1620", a "_ _ 6 2 _ _" or a "28". Just my ideas, based on the very little we know from this interesting letter and code.

Hey AK
Nice find!
The second page you posted from the FBI files.........last paragraph........first sentence it says "The furnished interpretation of -+62+-................." I took that to mean the author told them what it meant. In other words the author of the letter furnished the interpretation although it does seem kinda strange that they would try to "prove it analyticaly" so perhaps I am off base.

Why would "Zodiac" tell them that "- + 6 2 + - " means 1620?

My thought was that "furnished" meant what the San Jose Police told the FBI what they thought it meant.

In other words that the number "1620" was somehow associated with the "widow" they think Zodiac is refering to. An address or some other number involving that murder case that created the widow.

That is my guess.

But who knows?

My thought when I first read the FBI page where the woman's name is redacted is that not only is there a name there but also an address which is in San Jose. I don't think that the woman's name is that long or hyphenated.

Seagull wrote:

My thought when I first read the FBI page where the woman's name is redacted is that not only is there a name there but also an address which is in San Jose. I don't think that the woman's name is that long or hyphenated.

Yes I agree.

The second time they say the widow's name, it is much shorter, and it looks IMO like 5 to 8 letters are redacted.

Meaning perhaps her last name is 5 to 8 letters long?

Anybody have a different and/or better theory? Or guess?

One other things - anyone know what "Butte tel" means? Telephone call, yes, but who or what is "Butte"?

Could be right about the long redacted line including the name & address, and then the shorter line just being her name.

Does a 5 to 8 letter name seem to fit about right?

Does that help you in terms of San Jose widows?

So far I like your June lovers lane case the best, Morf.

"R O D R I G U I Z" is 9 letters, might be too long? But perhaps she remarried or went back to maiden name?

And I guessed 5 to 8 letters, it could be 9.

And what does "Butte" mean?

AK Wilks wrote:

Does a 5 to 8 letter name seem to fit about right?

Does that help you in terms of San Jose widows?

So far I like your June lovers lane case the best, Morf.

"R O D R I G U I Z" is 9 letters, might be too long? But perhaps she remarried or went back to maiden name?

And I guessed 5 to 8 letters, it could be 9.

And what does "Butte" mean?

Actually, its RODRIGUEZ, but I get your point.

OK.

But I do think that is the best candidate so far.

It could be 9 letters redacted. What do you think?

Any other murders that created a widow?

Some of the others you found are potentially viable as well.

I thought this was interesting.
Butte County is north of Sacramento.
According to Wikipedia.
In 1966 they founded Butte-Glen Community College and in 1967 they began offering law enforcement, fire science, and vocational nursing classes.
Also the town of Paradise is located nearby.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butte_College

Interesting.

The other thing I find is that - duh! - there is a Butte, Montana. Though I have no idea why they would be involved in this matter.

AK Wilks wrote:

OK.

But I do think that is the best candidate so far.

It could be 9 letters redacted. What do you think?

Any other murders that created a widow?

Some of the others you found are potentially viable as well.

Ak Well, My gut tells me that this double murder was Z. And as I previously stated, due to $$ cutbacks, and shortages in man power, the Alameda investigation for a Z link is delayed for now. That being said, I think it is a Z crime and it has all the indications of being a Z crime. Plus something that really caught my attention- the victims, and their Family members were receiving crank anonymous calls between 10:30 & 11:00 am. The caller never said anything, they would always hear heavy breathing. This happened before AND AFTER the murders! A couple weeks after the murders, the male victim's widow received one of these calls. Even more interesting, and what really jumped out at me, was the fact that Robert Graysmith was receiving identical "heavy breather" calls, years after the 1967 murders. These calls usually happened between 10:30 & 11:00 am. Coincidence????

I dont really know how long the redacted name is, but I will PM you the full name of the victim's widow. It seems like it could fit. I will ask the Detective in the case if he can find out if this widow could be the widow from the letter. I really dont hold out much hope as many of the records were lost or destroyed from the original case. It was only by luck that they still had some of the bullets in the lab, and I provided them with some news articles in addition to articles that they had also put aside.

Good points. I mostly agree.

Thanks.

Pleasanton, near where the couple was murdered on 6/8/67, is about 35 minutes from San Jose. Looks like Sunol is even closer, maybe 25 minutes.

If Zodiac didn't know CA real well, and it is night, could he have thought he was in San Jose, or the county San Jose is in, Santa Clara? Or that he was in the Greater San Jose Metro Area? San Jose is the third largest city in CA.

Is Pleasanton/Sunol considered a satellite or suburb of San Jose, or more of Oakland?

AK Wilks wrote:

Pleasanton, near where the couple was murdered on 6/8/67, is about 35 minutes from San Jose. Looks like Sunol is even closer, maybe 25 minutes.

If Zodiac didn't know CA real well, and it is night, could he have thought he was in San Jose, or the county San Jose is in, Santa Clara? Or that he was in the Greater San Jose Metro Area? San Jose is the third largest city in CA.

Is Pleasanton/Sunol considered a satellite or suburb of San Jose, or more of Oakland?

Good work with the map stuff. The Sunol Regional park is pretty close to Pleasanton. Remember, the attack happened in two spots. The killer killed the mal victim quickly and then took the female to the park area, before shooting her in the back as she ran. If I recall, these two separate scenes were about 5 miles apart, and were pretty close to Pleasanton where Z sent multiple letters from. Its also straight across (when drawing a line on a map) from the area where Johns was attacked.

AK Wilks wrote:

Pleasanton, near where the couple was murdered on 6/8/67, is about 35 minutes from San Jose. Looks like Sunol is even closer, maybe 25 minutes.

If Zodiac didn't know CA real well, and it is night, could he have thought he was in San Jose, or the county San Jose is in, Santa Clara? Or that he was in the Greater San Jose Metro Area? San Jose is the third largest city in CA.

Is Pleasanton/Sunol considered a satellite or suburb of San Jose, or more of Oakland?

Here is the official Sunol site:
http://www.ebparks.org/parks/sunol

Sunol & Pleasanton are pretty close to each other. Approximately 15 minutes away. They are both in Alameda County. San Jose is much further down. It's in San Clara County.
San Jose is HUGE compared to Sunol & Pleasanton. Both Sunol & Pleasanton have been and still are nice communities. Sunol, is a fairly small town, has the Sunol Train. Pleasanton larger, very nice.
San Jose is Vast, an has it's good parts n bad parts. There is NO way someone could think Pleasanton was San Jose.

I would tend to think that Z knew the areas and back roads, since he appears to have done so much crusiong on back roads late at night. I still could see a scenario in which he travelled from town to town in the bay area for work, or for hobbies, etc.

morf13 wrote:

I would tend to think that Z knew the areas and back roads, since he appears to have done so much crusiong on back roads late at night. I still could see a scenario in which he travelled from town to town in the bay area for work, or for hobbies, etc.

I totally agree Morf. Been to most these Z places, an I consider them all back roads.

Thnaks for the info.

In see that Sunol is 37 minutes from Oakland and about 30 from San Jose.

My thought is this: Zodiac killed people in Vallejo. But, perhaps wanting big city exposure and fame, he sent letters to the San Francisco Chronicle and later San Francisco Police Department because he thought - apparently correctly - that Vallejo would be considered part of the Greater San Francisco Metro Area.

If a person killed people in Sunol/Pleasanton, who would they sent a credit or threat letter to?

???

More likley to Oakland newspapers and/or Police Department, or San Jose newspapers and/or Police Department? Or somewhere else?

The fact that he knew the "back roads" well, as Zamantha has both indicated and verified really points to him being a "local", as opposed to an "import"...

I just got a response letter from the FBI in regards to my FOIA request for the 1969 San Jose Zodiac letter, the 1971 "Monticello...In the woods dies April" Zodiac card, the July 1978 typed "tape" Zodiac letter and the 1981 Atlanta "Zodiac" letter.

The FBI did NOT check any objection boxes or note any objections such as privacy, open investigation, lost records or delay. They state they are searching the records.

So, good sign, hope we get something soon!

AK Wilks wrote:

I just got a response letter from the FBI in regards to my FOIA request for the 1969 San Jose Zodiac letter, the 1971 "Monticello...In the woods dies April" Zodiac card, the July 1978 typed "tape" Zodiac letter and the 1981 Atlanta "Zodiac" letter.

The FBI did NOT check any objection boxes or note any objections such as privacy, open investigation, lost records or delay. They state they are searching the records.

So, good sign, hope we get something soon!

Great news. Looking forward to see what happens. By the way, did they ever send you any of the other stuff you requested? Seems like its taking a while.